Mi Business Mag, 8 January 2018
Individually, each of us has a default future; as do our businesses, families, communities and societies. It’s the place we will end up if we take no action other than that currently planned. If the default future is aligned with your ambition and aspirations, then simply enjoy the experience and be sure to keep on track. If it is not aligned, then a sense of anxiety, frustration and helplessness can result.
It’s part of the human condition to wonder what our default future will be. It’s something we all do to a degree – and for some of us it’s something we worry about deeply. When parents see their child missing school or getting in with the wrong crowd, they think of what the future will hold if they continue on this path. When a person is told they have a life-threatening illness, they immediately want to know what their chances of survival are and what quality of life they should expect. Equally, leaders of businesses, both small and large, constantly think about the future of the organisation for which they are accountable, including the people whose livelihoods depend upon their leadership. Thinking about our default future is something we do every day; we create a mental model of that future and wonder what it would be like to live that experience.
But it’s one thing thinking about our default future; it’s another to confront it.